cottier noun. ['kɒtɪǝ] ME.
[Old French cotier (in medieval Latin cotarius), ult. from Germanic base of COT noun¹: see -IER.]
1. Orig. = COTTAR 1. Now, a rural labourer living in a cot or cottage. ME.

2. Irish History. A peasant who rented a smallholding under a system of tenure (cottier tenure) by which land was let annually in small portions direct to the labourers, the rent being fixed by public competition. M19.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲